Role of a goalie

Kinston’s Matthew Burwell drives to block a kick as the Vikings visited N. Lenoir last week.

Janet S. Carter / The Free Press

By Michael Moon / Correspondent

Published: Monday, September 30, 2013 at 05:33 PM.

Playing goalkeeper on a high school soccer team isn’t exactly for the faint of heart. As the last line of defense, goalies rarely get the glory and quite often shoulder a disproportionate amount of blame when things go south for the team.

For the better part of 78 minutes in a match last week, a pair of junior goal keepers for Kinston and North Lenoir stopped nearly everything that came their way. In fact, the only breakthrough came in the 38th minute when Kinston’s Robert Blake found Ryan Harrell for the game’s first goal on a beautiful cross from a corner kick.

Neither team could notch another goal until a flurry of activity in the final two minutes. An equalizing goal from the Hawks’ Michael Bednarz on a penalty kick found daylight under the out-stretched arms of the Vikings’ Matthew Burwell, and then Kinston’s Evan Hood — who drilled a 25-yard bullet past a diving NL’s Jacob Baird in the final minute — produced the game-winner.

The Vikings outlasted the Hawks, 2-1.

“Both keepers were outstanding,” NL coach Donell Garris said. “They stopped all the routine shots and a lot of shots that weren’t routine.”

Baird — whose older brother Caleb and several other family members played soccer for the Hawks — is no stranger to the position or the pressure it entails.

“He’s been solid for us all year,” Garris said. “He’s following in the footsteps of his brother. He comes from a family tradition of outstanding keepers.”

Playing goalkeeper on a high school soccer team isn’t exactly for the faint of heart. As the last line of defense, goalies rarely get the glory and quite often shoulder a disproportionate amount of blame when things go south for the team.

For the better part of 78 minutes in a match last week, a pair of junior goal keepers for Kinston and North Lenoir stopped nearly everything that came their way. In fact, the only breakthrough came in the 38th minute when Kinston’s Robert Blake found Ryan Harrell for the game’s first goal on a beautiful cross from a corner kick.

Neither team could notch another goal until a flurry of activity in the final two minutes. An equalizing goal from the Hawks’ Michael Bednarz on a penalty kick found daylight under the out-stretched arms of the Vikings’ Matthew Burwell, and then Kinston’s Evan Hood — who drilled a 25-yard bullet past a diving NL’s Jacob Baird in the final minute — produced the game-winner.

The Vikings outlasted the Hawks, 2-1.

“Both keepers were outstanding,” NL coach Donell Garris said. “They stopped all the routine shots and a lot of shots that weren’t routine.”

Baird — whose older brother Caleb and several other family members played soccer for the Hawks — is no stranger to the position or the pressure it entails.

“He’s been solid for us all year,” Garris said. “He’s following in the footsteps of his brother. He comes from a family tradition of outstanding keepers.”

For Baird, the Kinston-North Lenoir rivalry last week took on a special meaning.

“It’s a big game,” he said. “We had a lot of shots, and they had a lot of shots. They made theirs count more than we did tonight. I just try to keep them out as best I can.”

The junior did his part last Monday, stopping seven of nine shots on goal in a losing effort, including a pair of breakaway attempts from the Vikings in the first half and a point blank shot in the final minute that ricocheted to Hood for the game-winner.

Burwell, meanwhile, matched his counterpart shot-for-shot, save-for-save. The Vikings’ junior keeper stopped seven shots and got his hands on the tying PK in the 78th minute.

“I should’ve stopped it,” he matter-of-factly told a teammate after the game.

The junior is probably his own biggest critic. Few others said much about his work in net, which includes a string of nine shutouts — all in conference play — a year ago. Burwell shrugged off the stat. Though he admits the shutouts are nice, he deferred credit to his teammates.

“It’s not all me,” he said. “A lot of the credit goes to the defense. They make a lot of great stops to keep me from even having to go for the ball.”

His coach, however, knows what kind of talent he has at his disposal.

“Having someone like him in net makes you play with more confidence,” Vikings coach Joseph Romig said. “You’re willing to take a few more risks as a team.”

Romig pointed to last Monday’s decisive goal when Hood, a senior sweeper, pushed up to take the final shot, confident in knowing his keeper was the last line of defense behind him.

“The goal keeping for both teams was fabulous tonight,” Romig said. “I give the nod to (Burwell) because of the two point blank saves in the second half, but that doesn’t take away from the other guy.”

He added, “Net to net, it was great. It’s nice to see soccer has arrived in Lenoir County.”